Word.ws English Dictionary

greater

UK/ˈɡɹeɪtə//ˈɡɹeɪtɚ/

greater is the comparative form of great.

Adjective

greater (not comparable)

  1. Of two (or, rarely, more than two) things: the larger in size (bigger), in value, in importance etc.
    • greater yellowlegs
    Antonyms:
    lesser
  2. (attributive) The larger geographic or administrative area that encompasses or belongs to a place (especially if both share the same name).
    • Greater Antilles
    • GMRLC is a regional consortium of medium-size research libraries (17 in 1995) located in the greater Midwest.1997, Virginia Boucher, “Interlibrary Cooperation”, in Interlibrary Loan Practices Handbook, 2nd edition, →ISBN, page 98, column 1
  3. (attributive, capitalized, usually) Including the surrounding urban areas and conurbation (of a city or other large settlement).
    • Greater London
    • Greater New York includes adjacent parts of three states, as well as the City itself.
  4. (attributive) Referring to a state at its fullest historical (or desired future) extent including colonies, annexed land, etc.
    • Greater Armenia

Meaning of great

Adjective

great (comparative greater, superlative greatest)

  1. Taking much space; large.
    • “[…] the awfully hearty sort of Christmas cards that people do send to other people that they don't know at all well. You know. The kind that have mottoes like // Here's rattling good luck and roaring good cheer, / With lashings of food and great hogsheads of beer.[…]”1921, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC
    1. Much, more than usual.
      • great worry
    2. (UK, informal) Intensifying a word or expression, used in mild oaths.
      • a dirty great smack in the face
  2. (informal) Very good; excellent; wonderful; fantastic.
    • Dinner was great.
  3. Important, consequential.
    • a great dilemma
  4. (qualifying nouns of family relationship) Involving more generations than the qualified word implies — as many extra generations as repetitions of the word great (from 1510s).
    • great-grandfather, great-great-grandfather, great-great-great-grandfather

See all 20 meanings of great

Antonyms of greater

Origin of greater

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Words formed from greater

Phrases with greater

61 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with greater

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about greater

What does greater mean?
Greater means of two (or, rarely, more than two) things: the larger in size (bigger), in value, in importance etc.
What is greater the comparative form of?
Greater is the comparative form of great.
What part of speech is greater?
Greater is an adjective.
How do you pronounce greater?
Greater is pronounced /ˈɡɹeɪtə/ (UK).

Words near greater in the dictionary

  1. greate
  2. greaten
  3. greatened
  4. greatening
  5. greatens
  6. greater
  7. Greater Accra
  8. greater adjutant
  9. greater adjutants
  10. Greater Adria
  11. greater alar cartilage

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: greater (page history and authors); great (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: Greater-pronunciation-us.ogg.

Cite this entry: “greater.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/greater. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.